![\"\"](\"http:\/\/mp.aleph-consult.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/41_Belarus_Smartseleva-3-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nChemical firm expands its customer base and develops new materials<\/p>\n
Iryna Smartselava works for Europe\u2019s largest producer of artificial fibres, SvetlogorskKhimvolokno AG in Belarus. The state enterprise set up a new product line two years ago to produce multilayer non-woven fabrics. These so-called laminates are breathable and are popularly used in hygiene products. The German market for hygiene products, which has a volume of about \u20ac4.7 billion per year, is very attractive, although it is also conservative as regards new suppliers, reports Iryna Smartselava who is an economist. With the help of the Manager Training Programme, despite the obstacles, she nevertheless succeeded in establishing contacts in this industry, which is new for her firm, and in delivering samples. For 2019 her sights are set on two major customers.<\/p>\n
Iryna Smartselava will soon have an im\u00acportant meeting. In the near future, a conference for hygiene products will be held in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik. She is scheduled to meet a firm from Germany there. That meeting could be a milestone in their further cooperation: it concerns a one-year contract to the value of \u20ac400,000 for the delivery of laminates as an outer layer for nappies. Six months have passed since the first meeting with the firm during the MP. During these six months there have been countless nego\u00actiations, sample deliveries, product mod\u00acifications and a comprehensive search for raw materials. \u201cAgreements in this indus\u00actry sometimes take months or even years\u201d, notes Smartselava. The industry is known for its conservative attitudes, especially in Germany. Initiating contact is difficult and emails often go unanswered, reports the sales manager. With its good reputa\u00action, the MP functions as an important icebreaker for establishing these compli\u00accated business connections.<\/p>\n
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Germany is the Main Buyer<\/strong> New Product for Existing Customers<\/strong> Organic Market is Still a Way Off<\/strong> Founding a Promotional Group<\/strong> Smartselava\u2019s most important job is to en\u00acsure full capacity for the new production facilities. She accomplished that in 2018 with many smaller orders. From 2019 on, the line should increasingly be producing for larger orders. Those will be coming from the contacts established in Germa\u00acny and the new promotional department.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chemical firm expands its customer base and develops new materials Iryna Smartselava works for Europe\u2019s largest producer of artificial fibres, SvetlogorskKhimvolokno AG in Belarus. The state enterprise set up a new product line two years ago to produce multilayer non-woven fabrics. These so-called laminates are breathable and are popularly used in hygiene products.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":0,"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":""},"categories":[19,48],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mp.aleph-consult.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14097"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mp.aleph-consult.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mp.aleph-consult.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mp.aleph-consult.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mp.aleph-consult.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14097"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/mp.aleph-consult.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26255,"href":"https:\/\/mp.aleph-consult.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14097\/revisions\/26255"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mp.aleph-consult.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mp.aleph-consult.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mp.aleph-consult.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mp.aleph-consult.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14097"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mp.aleph-consult.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=14097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nAfter Russia, Germany is the most im\u00acportant export market for the chemical giant, which has an annual revenue of about \u20ac120 million \u2013 with products that are largely manufactured on German machines. The nonwoven fabrics are produced in systems built by the Reifen\u00ach\u00e4user Group and Tr\u00fctzschler GmbH and Co. KG, for example. Orders from Germany pre\u00acviously only came from the furniture, construction and technology industries. The major customers include Continental AG. This global player from Han\u00acnover relies on quality from Belarus in the production of turbocharger hoses.<\/p>\n
\nThe existing customers also include Sima GmbH, a wholesaler for painting supplies. Smart\u00acselava used the MP to develop their rela\u00actionship. In close collaboration with the customer, she had a new product devel\u00acoped: breathable cover sheets for floors. When wooden floors don\u2019t breathe under cover sheets, damage may occur as a result of the dampness. The innovative sheet prevents this from happening. The first sample delivery was sent to the me\u00acdium-sized enterprise from Baden-W\u00fcrt-temberg in October 2018. Smartselava expects to close the deal in 2019.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/mp.aleph-consult.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/41_Belarus_Smartseleva-2-scaled.jpg\")
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\nBut not all meetings have been grand successes. So far there has not been any agreement with WILOGIS Hygie\u00acneprodukte GmbH, whose product range includes nappies. The company is interested in organic laminates, but the chemical firm is not ready for that. There is a lack of suitable sources of raw materials, regrets Smartselava. \u201cI have assigned that to our development department because that\u2019s an interesting market for us in the future she says\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nThe requirement profiles for the individ\u00acual nonwoven fabric layers in hygiene laminates vary greatly: they must be more permeable or less permeable. In coordi\u00acnation with the customers, the different layers are developed and made available. Three employees in the sales department have been assigned to a promotional group for the hygiene market to survey the needs of the customers and increase sales. There is major potential, and more than one third of all the nonwoven fab\u00acrics the firm produces are already sold in the hygiene sector, and the numbers are increasing.<\/p>\n